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U. S. Junior Closed Championship 2016
July 7, 2016
The U.S. Junior starts on July 8 in St. Louis and goes until July 18. The event is the most prestigious chess tournament in the country for junior players under the age of 21, and the 2016 lineup features the strongest field by rating for the U.S. Junior Closed to date.
Live at:
http://www.uschesschamps.com/information/watch-live
Ten players are competing in the 2016 U.S. Junior Closed Championship (invitational rating):
GM Jeffery Xiong (2723)—Coppell, Texas
GM Kayden Troff (2639)—West Jordan, Utah
IM Ruifeng Li (2608)—Plano, Texas
IM Akshat Chandra (2583)—Inselin, N.J.
IM Luke Harmon-Vellotti (2527)—Boise, Idaho
IM Michael Bodek (2523)—New Rochelle, N.Y.
IM Awonder Liang (2515)—Madison, Wis.
IM Aleksandr Ostrovskiy (2508)—Brooklyn, N.Y.
FM Michael Brown (2506)—Trabucco Canyon, Calf.
FM Nicolas Checa (2502)—Dobbs Ferry, N.Y.
Players are competing for more than $20,000 in prizes, and the winner will also receive an automatic invitation to the 2017 U.S. Championship, the nation’s top invitational chess event. Two players from this year’s field, defending U.S. Junior Champion, Akshat Chandra, and Jeffery Xiong, competed in the 2016 U.S. Chess Championship.
________
Throughout the tournament we will give the bios of the ten players from the official site.
The first two:
Jeffery Xiong
Title: Grandmaster Rating: 2723 Residence: Coppell, TX Age: 15 Status: Accepted Bio: Jeffery Xiong of Coppell, Texas, is the highest ranked player in the world under the age of 16. He has shown tenacity well beyond his years. At age 15, he already has had an impressive list of results: the 2010 Under-10 North America Continental Champion, a silver medalist in the 2010 Under-10 World Youth Chess Championships, 2013 MVP of the United States Chess League for his perfect record in regular season for the Dallas Destiny, 2015 Chicago Open Championship, 6th place finish in the strongest U. S. Championship in history (2016), and was recently awarded the 2016 U. S. Outstanding Player Achievement Award by USCF. However, it is his creativity on the board and his maturity in defeat that has caught the eye of some of the most renowned chess grandmasters.
From a very young age, Xiong has seen his losses, though painful, as an opportunity to improve. While some of Xiong's older competitors have been known to display their frustration with difficult losses, he remains collected—analyzing where his play could have been stronger. This maturity has helped enlist legendary Grandmaster Garry Kasparov as a mentor in the Young Stars program, and it has led to numerous impressive victories and awards since.
Home-schooled now, Xiong already has been awarded a four-year scholarship to the University of Texas at Dallas. The school’s faith in him is well-founded, particularly since his undefeated play in this past spring’s UT Dallas vs. U.S. A. Junior All-Stars event helped his team, the Junior All-Stars, achieve victory over that same UT Dallas university program he may one day attend.
Awonder Liang
Title: International Master Rating: 2515 Residence: Madison, WI Age: 13 Status: Accepted Bio: At just 13 years of age, the sensational child prodigy Awonder Liang is entering the tournament as the highest rated Under-13 player in both the U. S. the world. He learned how to play chess from his father and two brothers while growing up in Madison, Wisconsin. He attributes much of his success to support he has received from his family.
Awonder is well-known in the chess community for the record-shattering pace at which he continues to improve. A week after his eighth birthday, Awonder became the youngest chess expert in U. S. history—breaking the record previously held by Sam Sevian. He also broke the record for youngest national master in U. S. history 17 days before his 10th birthday.
Awonder holds the distinction for the youngest-ever player to beat an international master and the youngest American to beat a grandmaster in a standard time control. At the age of 9 years and 111 days, Awonder defeated GM Larry Kaufman in the Washington International—breaking the record previously held by Fabiano Caruana.
Awonder is entering the tournament a two-time world champion having earned gold medals in the Under-8 World Youth Chess Championship in Brazil (2011), and later the Under-10 World Youth Chess Championship in the United Arab Eremites (2013).
Known for his humble and kind demeanor, Awonder is not one to boast about his success; he sometimes wishes the fame would just go away. Despite being one the youngest and lowest-rated players in the tournament, Awonder is clearly one to watch in this year's U. S. Junior Closed Championship.
________
The round-robin tournament will begin on Friday, July 8 with the rounds starting daily at 1:00 p.m. CT.
Each round of the 2016 U.S. Junior Closed Championship will feature live commentary from Grandmaster Ben Finegold and FIDE Master Aviv Friedman.
July 7, 2016
The U.S. Junior starts on July 8 in St. Louis and goes until July 18. The event is the most prestigious chess tournament in the country for junior players under the age of 21, and the 2016 lineup features the strongest field by rating for the U.S. Junior Closed to date.
Live at:
http://www.uschesschamps.com/information/watch-live
Ten players are competing in the 2016 U.S. Junior Closed Championship (invitational rating):
GM Jeffery Xiong (2723)—Coppell, Texas
GM Kayden Troff (2639)—West Jordan, Utah
IM Ruifeng Li (2608)—Plano, Texas
IM Akshat Chandra (2583)—Inselin, N.J.
IM Luke Harmon-Vellotti (2527)—Boise, Idaho
IM Michael Bodek (2523)—New Rochelle, N.Y.
IM Awonder Liang (2515)—Madison, Wis.
IM Aleksandr Ostrovskiy (2508)—Brooklyn, N.Y.
FM Michael Brown (2506)—Trabucco Canyon, Calf.
FM Nicolas Checa (2502)—Dobbs Ferry, N.Y.
Players are competing for more than $20,000 in prizes, and the winner will also receive an automatic invitation to the 2017 U.S. Championship, the nation’s top invitational chess event. Two players from this year’s field, defending U.S. Junior Champion, Akshat Chandra, and Jeffery Xiong, competed in the 2016 U.S. Chess Championship.
________
Throughout the tournament we will give the bios of the ten players from the official site.
The first two:
Jeffery Xiong
Title: Grandmaster Rating: 2723 Residence: Coppell, TX Age: 15 Status: Accepted Bio: Jeffery Xiong of Coppell, Texas, is the highest ranked player in the world under the age of 16. He has shown tenacity well beyond his years. At age 15, he already has had an impressive list of results: the 2010 Under-10 North America Continental Champion, a silver medalist in the 2010 Under-10 World Youth Chess Championships, 2013 MVP of the United States Chess League for his perfect record in regular season for the Dallas Destiny, 2015 Chicago Open Championship, 6th place finish in the strongest U. S. Championship in history (2016), and was recently awarded the 2016 U. S. Outstanding Player Achievement Award by USCF. However, it is his creativity on the board and his maturity in defeat that has caught the eye of some of the most renowned chess grandmasters.
From a very young age, Xiong has seen his losses, though painful, as an opportunity to improve. While some of Xiong's older competitors have been known to display their frustration with difficult losses, he remains collected—analyzing where his play could have been stronger. This maturity has helped enlist legendary Grandmaster Garry Kasparov as a mentor in the Young Stars program, and it has led to numerous impressive victories and awards since.
Home-schooled now, Xiong already has been awarded a four-year scholarship to the University of Texas at Dallas. The school’s faith in him is well-founded, particularly since his undefeated play in this past spring’s UT Dallas vs. U.S. A. Junior All-Stars event helped his team, the Junior All-Stars, achieve victory over that same UT Dallas university program he may one day attend.
Awonder Liang
Title: International Master Rating: 2515 Residence: Madison, WI Age: 13 Status: Accepted Bio: At just 13 years of age, the sensational child prodigy Awonder Liang is entering the tournament as the highest rated Under-13 player in both the U. S. the world. He learned how to play chess from his father and two brothers while growing up in Madison, Wisconsin. He attributes much of his success to support he has received from his family.
Awonder is well-known in the chess community for the record-shattering pace at which he continues to improve. A week after his eighth birthday, Awonder became the youngest chess expert in U. S. history—breaking the record previously held by Sam Sevian. He also broke the record for youngest national master in U. S. history 17 days before his 10th birthday.
Awonder holds the distinction for the youngest-ever player to beat an international master and the youngest American to beat a grandmaster in a standard time control. At the age of 9 years and 111 days, Awonder defeated GM Larry Kaufman in the Washington International—breaking the record previously held by Fabiano Caruana.
Awonder is entering the tournament a two-time world champion having earned gold medals in the Under-8 World Youth Chess Championship in Brazil (2011), and later the Under-10 World Youth Chess Championship in the United Arab Eremites (2013).
Known for his humble and kind demeanor, Awonder is not one to boast about his success; he sometimes wishes the fame would just go away. Despite being one the youngest and lowest-rated players in the tournament, Awonder is clearly one to watch in this year's U. S. Junior Closed Championship.
________
The round-robin tournament will begin on Friday, July 8 with the rounds starting daily at 1:00 p.m. CT.
Each round of the 2016 U.S. Junior Closed Championship will feature live commentary from Grandmaster Ben Finegold and FIDE Master Aviv Friedman.
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